Bottle filling valve



Jan. 14, 1936. ANT R 2,028,092

- I BOTTLE FILLING VALVE Filed Oct. 28, 19 53 g dz 36 7 5 %,-7 1 E E 6' J J 3 2'? wO V /J 2 E a\ a g INVENTOR. James Kanfaz',

25 24 v ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 14, 1936 BOTTLE FILLING VALVE James Kantor, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Liquid Carbonic Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application October 28, 1933, Serial No. 695,594

5 Claims. (01. 226-122) My invention relates to improvements in filling valves for bottle filling machines and has for one of its objects that of providing a dripless valve of this type. Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby liquid is prevented from backing up into the gas line in event, for any reason, the apparatus is stopped during a filling operation.

My invention is particularly applicable to the type of valve illustrated in my U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,900,447 granted March 7, 1933 and reference may be had to this patent for details of construction of the filler valve not specifically referred to in the present application.

For the purpose of disclosing my invention I have illustrated an embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a valve embodying my invention and Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of a filling machine showing the position of the valve with respect to that machine.

As is usual in this type of machine there is provided a filling tank I adapted to contain carbonated water or other liquid to be supplied to the bottle to be filled. This tank is provided with a series of filling valves 2 adapted to be engaged by the bottles to be filled and control the fiow of liquid-tothe bottle fromthe tank I.

In thespecific form of valveillustrated a base casting 3 is provided having a water inlet port 4 controlled by a valve 5 and a counter pressure gas inlet port 6 controlled by the valve 1. The stems 8 and 9 of these valves project below the casting and it will be noted that the stem 9 is longer than the stem 8. The water inlet port 4 is connected by a suitable pipe It with the filling tank I and the counter pressure gas inlet port 6 r is' connected by the pipe II with the top of the tank I. To this end there is provided a pipe I2 inthe tank I which extends above the water level in the tank and communicates with the pipe H. In addition to the two above-mentioned ports there is also provided a snifter port I 3 adapted to communicate with the atmosphere. The water inlet port 4 communicates with the water tube I4 extending downwardly from said base 3 and Surrounding the tubes is a valve-operating member comprising a casing I'l biased in its downward position by a coiled spring I8 interposed between a shoulder I9 within the casing I! and the bottom of the base 3. This casing I? reciprocates on a tubular extension 20 from the base 3 and is restrained against movement in one direction by anannular shoulder 2I which en- I gages beneath the collar 22. The lower end of this casing I1 is provided with a bottle-engaging throat 23. I I

The lower end of the water tube I4 is closed by a valve 24 seating on the bottom edge of the tube and provided with a socket for the. reception of the tube, the walls of which socket are provided with openings 25 whereby when the valve is moved to open the lower end of the water tube the water discharge will take place through the openings 25 and be discharged against the side Walls of the bottle rather than downwardly. This valve 24 is controlled 'by a'valve-operating rod 26 which extends upwardly through the'water tube I4 and is provided-at its upper endwith a threaded nut 21 which is screwed into a piston member 28 having a preferably leather cup 29 on the top thereof. This piston operates in a cylindrical tube 30 extending into an opening in the base 3 and terminating in the port 4. This piston 28 in turn is connected with a second piston 3 I, also operating in the. tube 30 and likewise provided with a cup 7 32. The two pistons are connected to a stem 33 extending beyond the tube by means of a rivet 34 and this stem at its upper end has an annular shoulder 35, in the form of a nut threaded thereon at its upper end. Between this nut and a part of the base 3 is arranged a coiled spring 36, which, through the connections heretofore described, biases the valve 24 in a closed position. The valve is adapted to be opened by a suitable operating lever 31 bearing upon the nut 35 and operated in its proper sequence by the operating member I1.

The pipe I I communicates with the port 6 through the medium of suitable openings 38, 39 and 40 in the casing and in the opening 39 there is provided a valve seat 4| on which is adapted to seat a float valve 42, which may be of any suitable light material as cork or the like and biased in an open position by gravity This valve is preferably hung upon a stem 43, somewhat in the form of a cotter pin and having its ends 44 turned over a cross bar 45. In normal operation of the apparatus this valve due to gravity, will remain in its open position.

In the operation of the device when the bottle engages the throat 23 this throat, with the bottle, is forced upwardly, thereby projecting the water tube M, the gas or counter pressure tube 15 and the snifter tube l6 into the bottle. The continued upward movement of the casing ll causes the same to engage the stem 9 of the valve 1, opening this valve and admitting the'counter pressure gas from the top of the tank I through the pipes l2 and H until the air in the bottle has been expelled and the bottle is filled with the carbonic acid gas at a pressure equal to that within the tank I. As the casing continues to move upwardly it then engages the stem 8 opening the valve 5, the valve 1 still being open, and. water from the tank I is admitted through the pipe I into the filling tube l4. At the same time that the valve is opened the lever 31 is operated to depress the rod 26, thereby opening the valve 24 and water flows from the tank into the bottle, forcing carbonic acid gas back up through the counter pressure tube into the tank. By the time the bottle has been filled with water sufficient counter pressure has been developed to stop the flow of water and at this time, likewise, the bottle begins to move downwardly again. This down: ward movement of the bottle first shuts the valve 5 shutting 01f the flow of water and at the same time permits the closure of the valve 24 under the influence of the spring 36 so that the bottom of the water tube is closed and the water remaining in the tube after the closure of the valve 5 will not flow into the bottle. The counter pressure valve 1 next closes, shutting off the passage of carbonic acid gas from the top of the tank and, at about the same time, the snifter valve is opened to permit the escape of any excess gas from the top of the bottle to the atmosphere.

The pistons 28 and 3| act to seal the top of the water tube I4 against the escape of water through the top thereof and take the place of packing glands. It will be noted that some means must be provided for the operation of the stem or rod 26 from the exterior of the tube and to provide an operating means and at the same time prevent the leakage or escape of water I provide the pistons 29 and 3|. I-Ieretofore it has been the custom to provide a packing gland at this point through Which the stem 26 extends. An objection to such an arrangement is that there is always an uncertainty as to whether the operator will get the packing gland adjusted correctly. In his eagerness to prevent leakage he is very apt to get the packing gland set too tight and as a result frictionally bind the stem 26 so that the spring 36 cannot properly operate to close the valve 24. This'results in a leaking of the valve. Furthermore due to the fact that there is a certain amount of carbonated Water trapped in the water tube 14 when the valve 24 is closed the carbon dioxide gas liberated from this water is apt to create a pressure in the tube thereby tending to open the valve and permit dripping. This is particularly so when highly carbonated water is being used. The pistons 29 and 3| seal the top of the tube against the escape of the water with a minimum friction engagement between the parts so that the stem will be as free to operate as possible. This stem is raised through the medium of the coiled spring 36 and in order to have the parts operate promptly and efficiently the binding action on the stem, where it passes to the exterior of the apparatus, should be reduced to a minimum. The area of the pistons is equal to the effective pressure area of the valve 24, when closed. The carbonated water, due to the liberation of a small proportion of the carbonic acid gas in the water tube I4, with the valve 5 closed and with the valve 24 closed, develops a certain amount of pressure against the valve 24, as Well as the weight of the water. Due to the fact that the effective pressure area of the piston 29 is equal to the efiective pressure area of the valve 24 when closed, this opening pressure of the gas is counter balanced and the only opening pressure which has to be contended with is the weight of the water contained in the water tube. Therefore, the spring 36 may be very nicely adjusted to take care of the weight of the water and at the same time parts are quickly responsive for opening and closing. I have found that by making the effective area of the piston 29 equal to the effective area of the valve 24 very advantageous results may be obtained. However in some instances the area of the piston 29 may be greater than the area of the valve 24 and the parts operate satisfactorily. It will be noted that due to the fact that the effective pressure area of the piston 29 is equal to or greater than the area of the valve 24, an extremely light spring 36 may be used as about all the work this spring has to do is to overcome the friction of the moving parts as the pressure is compensated for by the piston.

Some times during the operation of the filling machine the machine is stopped with the valve 5 open and with the valve i open. Under these circumstances, with the tendency of the water to seek its level, the Water will back up in the counter pressure tube l5, through the ports 6, the openings 40, 39, and 38 and through the pipes ll and I2 until the water in the pipe 52 reaches the level of the water in the tank I. This water remains in the counter-pressure tube and ports even after the bottles which have been filled have been discharged from the filling machine. As soon now, as the machine again starts the Water which has backed up in the counter-pressure tube and ports will be forced out of the tube and the pipes II and I2 under the pressure of the gas in the top of the tank into the next succeeding bottle to engage the valve. This delivers this water into the bottles with such a rush as to cause foaming, which foam remains on top of the syrup which has previously been discharged into the bottle. As soon as the carbonated water flowing through the valve from the tank contacts with this foam a violent liberation of the carbonic gas from the carbonated water takes place with a result that when bottles are discharged from the filling machine approximately one-sixth of the contents boils out. Furthermore, the contents of these bottles will be found to be under standard as to the degree of carbonation because of the fact of the liberation of so much of the carbonic acid gas. By the provision of the float valve 42 the backing up of the water in the counter-pressure tube and in the opening 40 Will float this valve 42 closed, thereby preventing further backing up of the water into the pipes l I and I2, thus preventing the delivery of a large quantity of water into the bottle from the pipes H and I2 when the machine is again started. Of course, that Water in the counter-pressure tube and in the opening 40 will flow back into the bottle, but this is comparatively negligible.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a bottle filling valve, the combination with a valve casing, of a filling tube supported by and extending downwardly from said casing and open at its lower end, a valve controlled inlet port in said casing communicating with said tube, a downwardly opening valve at the lower end of said tube for controlling the passage of liquid from said tube, a stem extending through said tube for operating said valve and projecting through the top of said casing for engagement with operating means, said casing having an opening in the top thereof through which said stem projects and communicating with said tube, and a piston connected to said stem and operating in said opening to seal said opening against the escape of liquid through the top of the casing. i

2. In a bottle filling valve, the combination with a valve casing, a filling tube supported by and extending downwardly from said casing and open at its lower end, a valve controlled inlet port in said casing communicating with the top of said tube, a downwardly opening valve at the lower end of said tube controlling the discharge of liquid therefrom, a stem extending through said tube for controlling said valve and projecting through an opening in'the top of said casing and above the top thereof for engagement with operating means, and a packing surrounding said stem within said opening and connected to and movable with said stem.

3. In a bottle filling valve, the combination with a valve casing, of a filling tube supported by said casing and extending downwardly from said casing and open at its lower end, a valve controlled inlet port in said casing communicat ing with the top of said tube, a downwardly opening valve at thelower end of said tube for controlling the discharge of liquid from said tube, a stem extending through said tube and projecting above the top of said casing for engagement with operating means with said valve, a tubular extension communicating with said tube projecting through said casing and surrounding said stem, a piston in said tubular ex- .tension connected with said stem, the efiective said casing, a valve controlled inlet port in said casing communicating with the top of said tube, a valve at the lower end of said tube for controlling the discharge of liquid from said tube, a stem extending through said tube and projecting through an opening in the top of said. casing, a tube extending above said opening, a threaded stud secured to the upper end of said stem, a piston member comprising an internally threaded stud for receiving the threaded stud on said stem, a pair of pistons, piston packing covering said pistons, a clamping member, and a stem for clamping said hollow threaded member and pistons and piston packing together, said structure operating within said tubular extension.

5. In a bottle filling valve, thecombination with a valve casing, of a filling tube supported by said casing and extending downwardly from said casing, a valve controlled inlet port in said casing communicating with the top of said tube, 

